http://www.indexoncensorship.org/2011/08/united-kingdom-david-cameron-considers-banning-rioters-from-social-media/ for free expression Fri, 17 May 2013 18:22:52 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 http://www.indexoncensorship.org/2011/08/united-kingdom-david-cameron-considers-banning-rioters-from-social-media/#comment-6157 louis della-porta Fri, 12 Aug 2011 04:09:28 +0000 http://www.indexoncensorship.org/?p=25515#comment-6157 We bans guns and knives on our streets etc because whilst they can be used for peaceful purposes, they can also be used for harming people. The logic with the mis-use of social media is similar – where it was used to exacerbate criminal acts.
Freedom of expression is to be highly valued, but it doesn’t come with a license to do anything. Crime is not a freedom of expression. With F of E comes a counterbalance of responsibility not to mis-use that freedom.
Perhaps the social media should be public, allowing the public to censor it rather than the authorites. So the collective ‘good’ who understand responsibility that goes with freedom can decide to shut it down, rather than government etc

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